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Tuesday was a historic day for the United Kingdom, which got its first-ever non-white Prime Minister in Rishi Sunak, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer and Britain’s youngest Prime Minister in recent times.
Mr. Sunak, 42, is of Indian descent and was born to parents who migrated to Britain from East Africa. The former investment banker and hedge fund manager will have the daunting task of trying to get the British economy back on the rails while attempting to unite the Conservative Party, which has produced three Prime Ministers in under two months.
Rishi Sunak becoming the first British Indian Prime Minister is an historic moment. This simply would not have been possible even a decade or two ago, director of British Future, a think tank that works in the area of identity and race, wrote on Monday when Mr. Sunak became Prime Minister-designate.
This will be a source of pride to many British Asians — including many who do not share Rishi Sunak’s Conservative politics.
Mr. Sunak is married to an Indian citizen, AkshataMurty, who is the daughter of Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy, and they have two daughters.
He was chosen by his fellow Conservative MPs to lead the party and country, following former Prime Minister Liz Truss’s announcement last Thursday that she was resigning, having lost the support of her fellow MPs after a failed ‘mini budget’ that deeply rattled markets.
Rishi Sunak has been crowned by Tory MPs. It’s a coronation not an election,” Angela Rayner, deputy leader of the Labour Party. He has no mandate and the British people have had no say.
Standing outside No.10 Downing Street shortly after being appointed by King Charles III around noon, Mr. Sunak vowed to bring stability to a country beleaguered by a cost-of-living crisis and a lack of stable leadership.
It will place economic stability and confidence at the heart of this government’s agenda, adding that his government would be run with “integrity, professionalism and accountability”.
Editorial Page
Ending dominance (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The recent order of India’s competition regulator against Google for abusing its dominant position in the Android mobile device ecosystem is significant not just for the amount of penalty imposed but also for the drastic changes in business practices that it requires the IT giant to undertake.
The Competition Commission of India imposed a penalty of about Rs. 1,337 crore, said to be a provisional amount, on Google, while coming down heavily on it for having such restrictive clauses in its agreements with original equipment manufacturers (who use its Android platform) that it can keep competition at bay.
And because of such agreements, the order said, “Google ensured that users continue to use its search services on mobile devices which facilitated un-interrupted growth of advertisement revenue for Google.”
It, therefore, concluded that the whole idea of Google imposing such restrictions on its device partners was to “protect and strengthen its dominant position in general search services and thus, its revenues via search advertisements”.
This decision, both the penalty and the regulator’s direction to Google “to modify its conduct”, will be welcomed by anyone who realises the power of the big IT platforms to shut out competition and, therefore, choice for the users.
Significantly, it will not be business-as-usual for Google, as the regulator has issued a cease and desist order against it, according to which it will have to drastically change the terms of the deals it enters into with original equipment manufacturers.
For instance, as per the Competition Commission order, Google should not henceforth force original equipment manufacturers to choose from its bouquet of apps to pre-install on the device.
Nor should it, the order says, require device makers to pre-install its apps such as Google search, Chrome, YouTube, Maps, among others, as a precondition for licensing of its Play Store.
It also has been directed against restricting users from uninstalling its pre-installed apps. One of the requirements, in fact, targets Google’s primary revenue generator.
Google shall allow the users, during the initial device setup, to choose their default search engine for all search entry points.
These, among a slew of such requirements, could well mean that Google will have to tweak its business model in India. Google has termed the order a “major setback” for Indian businesses and consumers, saying it opens up security risks while also possibly raising the cost of mobile devices.
While the option of legal review is open, it is to the regulator’s credit that Google’s anti-competitive practices have been called out. What the mobile users of a potential digital powerhouse such as India need is an environment of real choice.
Short or long stay, Brexit Britain’s challenges remain (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Rishi Sunak has claimed several records this week — Britain’s first Asian Prime Minister, the youngest in two centuries, and certainly the wealthiest in living memory.
His predecessor, Liz Truss, leaves with the record of the shortest serving Prime Minister, resigning after 45 days; the premier with the least support of her parliamentary colleagues; the leader who oversaw one of the worst declines in the value of the pound; perhaps even the leader who almost wrecked the British economy with her ideologically driven fiscal policies.
But the story of Liz Truss’ rise and fall, and of Rishi Sunak’s rise to become Britain’s fifth Prime Minister in six years is also the story of Brexit Britain.
This is the story of a country that voted to pull up the drawbridge in exchange for honeyed promises of ‘taking back control’ of immigration and its economy. Brexit Britain’s challenges remain.
To rewind, David Cameron called for a referendum in 2016 on whether Britain should remain in the European Union (EU). In a badly-worded ballot, the electorate were offered two choices: Remain (in the EU), or Leave.
There was no explanation about what ‘leaving’ meant, or indeed how any future relationship with Britain’s largest trading partner might be managed.
The country voted narrowly — 52% to 48% — in favour of Leave. The drafting of the referendum also indicated a one-off event.
However, the subsequent six years have shown that Brexit could never be an event — it was a process, and one with a long tail.
Thereafter, Britain has cycled through four other Prime Ministers in an attempt to disentangle itself from all the trading, financial, legal, bureaucratic and cultural ties that bind Britain to the world’s largest single market.
David Cameron, who belatedly campaigned for Remain after opening the floodgates, was succeeded by Theresa May, another Remainer.
In order to win the party over, Ms. May tacked right, promising a harder divorce from Europe than might have been necessary.
Ms. May could have opted for a Norway-type agreement, which would have allowed for Britain to remain in the European Economic Area and pursue a customs agreement with the EU, thereby protecting its most important trading relationship, while still nominally bringing political control back to Westminster.
A renewable energy revolution, rooted in agriculture (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The beginnings of a renewable energy revolution rooted in agriculture are taking shape in India with the first bio-energy plant of a private company in Sangrur district of Punjab having commenced commercial operations on October 18. It will produce Compressed Bio Gas (CBG) from paddy straw, thus converting agricultural waste into wealth.
It has become common practice among farmers in Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh to dispose of paddy stubble and the biomass by setting it on fire to prepare fields for the next crop, which has to be sown in a window of three to four weeks. This is spread over millions of hectares.
The resultant clouds of smoke engulf the entire National Capital Territory of Delhi and neighbouring States for several weeks between October to December. This plays havoc with the environment and affects human and livestock health.
The Government of India has put in place several measures and spent a lot of money in tackling the problem. The Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas (CAQM) had developed a framework and action plan for the effective prevention and control of stubble burning.
The framework/action plan includes in-situ management, i.e., incorporation of paddy straw and stubble in the soil using heavily subsidised machinery (supported by crop residue management (CRM) Scheme of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare).
Ex-situ CRM efforts include the use of paddy straw for biomass power projects and co-firing in thermal power plants, and as feedstock for 2G ethanol plants, feed stock in CBG plants, fuel in industrial boilers, waste-to-energy (WTE) plants, and in packaging materials, etc.
Additionally, measures are in place to ban stubble burning, to monitor and enforce this, and initiating awareness generation. Despite these efforts, farm fires continued unabated.
Though paddy stubble burning in northwest India has received a lot of attention because of its severity of pollution, the reality is that crop residue burning is spreading even to rabi crops and the rest of the country. Unless these practices are stopped, the problem will assume catastrophic proportions.
In its search for a workable solution, NITI Aayog approached FAO India in 2019 to explore converting paddy straw and stubble into energy and identify possible ex-situ uses of rice straw to complement the in-situ programme.
In technical consultations with the public and private sectors, the FAO published its study on developing a crop residue supply chain in Punjab that can allow the collection, storage and final use of rice straw for other productive services, specifically for the production of renewable energy.
The results suggest that to mobilise 30% of the rice straw produced in Punjab, an investment of around Rs. 2,201 crore ($309 million) would be needed to collect, transport and store it within a 20-day period.
This would reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by about 9.7 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent and around 66,000 tonnes of PM2.5.
Further, depending on market conditions, farmers can expect to earn between Rs. 550 and Rs. 1,500 per ton of rice straw sold, depending on market conditions.
Explainer
Ethiopia: its past and current challenges (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
The first formal African Union-led peace talks between an Ethiopian government team and Tigray forces (since the war of 2020 with Tigray), in South Africa, scheduled from October 24, are happening at a time when Ethiopian forces and allies have made some gains in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region.
For the rest of the world, the development spells some hope of reconciliation between the federal government and Tigray which was a prominent force in the country’s ruling coalition until Ethiopia’s current leader and Nobel Peace laureate (2019) Abiy Ahmed became the Prime Minister in 2018.
The ethnic conflict, and several others preceding it, spotlight the rich, yet troubled history of Ethiopia which stands out in the African continent.
From its origins in the Aksumite kingdom and a successor line of kings which eventually led to the ‘Solomonic line’, to a period of ethnic migrations marked by warfare, Ethiopia was an imperial state that gradually weakened over the course of the next two centuries with the emergence of regional and religious rivalries.
It is the next phase — what is called the modern period from around the 1850s to the present — that would help situate the conflict.
Here, there was a mix of warfare and nation-building under the reigns of the emperors, notably Menelik and later Haile Selassie, to the regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam, and later the Transitional Government of Ethiopia (TGE) under soldier-politician MelesZenawi beginning 1991.
It was during the Menelik reign that Ethiopia grew in size, with his moment of glory being the defeat of an Italian invasion force that was attempting to colonise the country.
The first Italo-Ethiopian war and the Battle of Adwa (1895-1896) was a watershed moment in continental history that marked the defeat of a colonial force. Menelik’s astuteness enabled the Treaty of Addis Ababa (1896), where Italy recognised the country’s absolute independence.
Haile Selassie who became the emperor in 1930, ushered in a phase of modernity only to be impeded briefly by the next Italo-Ethiopian war (1935-36).
Following his return from exile to Addis Ababa in 1941, he commenced military and political changes that were the catalyst for social and economic development. However, these changes triggered his unpopularity which resulted in the overthrow of the Ethiopian monarchy in 1974.
The Marxist dictatorship of Mengistu Haile Mariam that swept in resulted in the Derg unleashing a reign of terror, also known as the Ethiopian Red Terror.
News
Jaishankar holds talks on bilateral relations with Britain’s Foreign Secretary (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar discussed relations between India-U.K. with his British counterpart James Cleverly.
The call took place just before Mr. Cleverly was confirmed to continue in the post of Foreign Secretary by the newly appointed British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The two Ministers discussed several issues but the announcement of the phone call did not include the state of negotiation of the India-U.K. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that missed the Deepavali deadline that was given earlier this year by Prime Minister Boris Johnson during his visit to India.
Received a call from UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly. Discussed counter-terrorism, bilateral relations and the Ukraine conflict.
Shortly thereafter, Mr. Cleverly was reappointed Foreign Secretary by Prime Minister Sunak. The phone call showed high-level dialogue between the two sides has been on track despite the political developments in London including the resignation of Liz Truss and appointment of Mr. Sunak as her successor.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Prime Minister Sunak on Monday, extended Deepavali greetings, and said that he looks “forward to working closely together on global issues, and implementing Roadmap 2030.
The Roadmap 2030 was launched on May 4, 2021 during the India-U.K. virtual summit led by Prime Minister Modi and the then British Prime Ministers Mr. Johnson.
One of the main focus areas of the Roadmap 2030 was the Free Trade Agreement between the two countries that received further boost during Mr. Johnson’s India visit during April this year. He had announced that the deal would be ready by Deepavali.
However, both sides had reconciled to the possibility of missing that deadline last week when British media reported that the deal was “put on hold”.
The Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs ArindamBagchi however, responded saying that the negotiation should be left to the concerned officials and the deal was on track.
‘Burning of fossil fuels killed over 3 lakh Indians in 2020’ (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
An estimated over 3,30,000 people died in India due to exposure to particulate matter from fossil fuel combustion in 2020, says the 2022 report of The Lancet countdown on health and climate change: health at the mercy of fossil fuels. The report adds that from 2000-2004 to 2017-2021, heat-related deaths increased by 55% in India.
The new findings presented in the seventh annual global report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change also pointed to the fact that governments and companies continue to follow strategies that increasingly threaten the health and survival of people, and future generations.
Among other findings in the report, 45% of urban centres in India are classified as moderately green or above. Giving an indication of the economic loss, the report states that in 2021, Indians lost 16,720 crore potential labour hours due to heat exposure with income losses equivalent to about 5.4% of the national GDP.
Stating that climate change is amplifying the health impacts of multiple crises, the report further found that from 2012 to 2021, infants aged under one experienced a higher number of heatwave days.
Additionally, it added that the duration of the growth season for maize has decreased by 2%, compared with a 1981-2010 baseline, while rice and winter wheat have each decreased by 1%.
Warning that governments are not focusing on the issue as much as required, it said that in 2019, India had a net negative carbon price, indicating that the government was effectively subsidising fossil fuels.
India allocated a net 34 billion USD [around Rs. 2,80,000 crore] to this in 2019 alone, equivalent to 37.5% of the country’s national health spending that year.
Biomass accounted for 61% of household energy in 2019, while fossil fuels accounted for another 20%. With this high reliance on these fuels, average household concentrations of particulate matter exceeded the WHO recommendation by 27-fold nationally and 35-fold in rural homes.
World
Cyclone Sitrang kills at least 24 people in Bangladesh (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 1, Geography)
A tropical storm that lashed Bangladesh left at least 24 people dead and about 8 million without power across the delta nation.
The government said about 10,000 homes were damaged and more than 6,000 hectares of crops were destroyed. Thousands of fishing projects were also washed away.
The United News of Bangladesh news agency said about 20,000 people were marooned because of flooding triggered by tidal surges in the southern coastal district of Bhola.
Tropical Storm Sitrang brewed in the Bay of Bengal before turning north toward Bangladesh’s vast coast, prompting authorities to evacuate hundreds of thousands of people to cyclone shelters.
Heavy rains battered the country throughout the day, flooding many areas in the coastal regions across southern and southwestern Bangladesh.
The storm weakened Tuesday afternoon, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 65 kmph and wind gusts up to 85 kmph.
The weather office in the capital, Dhaka, which had recorded gusts up to 88 kmph on Monday evening, said the danger had passed.
Business
‘India’s exports to China growing faster than inbound shipments’ (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s trade equation with China has been improving in recent years with outbound shipments rising faster than imports, whose growth is being driven largely by vital raw materials and to meet demand from high-growth sectors such as telecom and power.
China is one of India’s large trading partners, with trade flows between the two countries having grown 59% from about $72 billion in 2014-15 (FY15), to $115.4 billion in FY22.
Since India-China trade started picking up, the growth in exports to China has been much higher than the import growth.
From $11.9 billion in FY15, India’s exports to China had risen 78.1% to $21.25 billion last year, while imports stood at $94.16 billion, 55.8% over the $60.4 billion recorded in FY15.
By contrast, imports from China had increased 192% between 2006-07 and 2013-14, when they had crossed $51 billion, he pointed out.
Intermediate goods account for more than a third of India’s imports from China, while capital goods constitute another 19.3%, with telecom and power sector gear being key drivers, which helped meet domestic demand in these fast-expanding sectors.
The major items of import from China are electronic components, computer hardware and peripherals, telecom instruments, organic chemicals, industrial machinery for dairy, residual chemicals and allied products, electronic instruments, bulk drugs and intermediates.
The production-linked incentive schemes for different sectors will help reduce the dependence on such imports over time, even as technical regulations framed for products such as toys, electronics, chemicals and fertilizers will check sub-standard imports.